Do you recognize this: The number on the scales fluctuates from day to day and you find yourself obsessing over this number and the results affect your whole day? That's not healthy and shouldn't be the case. First things first: your weight says absolutely nothing about you as a person and your loveability. It is just a number that initially has neither a positive nor a negative meaning. This number is then interpreted and evaluated by you or other people, which gives it a value and therefore a meaning. However, this evaluation is completely subjective and something you should liberate yourself from. Because progress, whether in terms of training or nutrition, can be measured by so many other things than just the number on the scales. Also, your weight fluctuates daily because it is simply influenced by a lot of factors.
But what is it that influences our weight?
Water retention: Our body is made up of 60% water. Water retention is completely normal and initially nothing to worry about. It occurs when fluid flows out of the blood vessels into the tissue. This happens when the pressure in the vessels increases and fluid is pressed into the surrounding tissue. The tissue swells and the circumference increases.
Hormones: The hormonal fluctuations of progesterone and oestrogen increase the water concentration in the body. Increased water retention is therefore normal, especially before your period and also before ovulation, which can then be observed as more weight on the scales. Hormonal changes during the menopause, an underactive thyroid or an insulin imbalance can also cause our body to retain more water.
Nutrition: You went out for dinner last night and the next morning the scales show 1 kg more? That's no reason to worry. When we eat out, it is very likely that the salt content of the food is very high. A lot of salt in the diet causes the cells to store more water. Eating a lot of fiber from whole grains and vegetables can also lead to short-term weight gain, as fiber binds water in the intestines. And carbohydrates also bind water, so you can expect to gain weight when consuming large amounts of carbohydrates.
Digestion: After eating something, your body needs time to digest it. It takes different amounts of time to break down the food into the individual nutrients, depending on what you have eaten. Foods made of easily digestible carbohydrates with little fiber, such as white bread, white rice or boiled potatoes, are digested quickly. Foods that are rich in fiber and protein remain in the digestive tract for longer. Fats and therefore high-fat foods are digested at the slowest rate. And a full stomach and intestines simply weigh more than an empty stomach and intestines. I always think of it like this: Our body is like a bag into which we put different foods. This makes the bag heavier on the scale, but it doesn't change the weight of the bag itself. Because when I take the food out again, it weighs exactly the same as before.
Stress: Stress causes our body to release more of the stress hormone cortisol, which has water retention properties. You can find out how to reduce stress here.
Exercise: Exercise can also be stressful for our bodies, although in most cases it is positive stress. Nevertheless, both the stress hormone cortisol released during exercise and micro-injuries in the trained muscle fibers lead to increased water retention.
Heat: If your body is dehydrated, i.e. you are not drinking enough, your tissues often retain water. Drinking plenty is always recommended, but you should pay particular attention to this when it is warm.
Living in a fat-phobic society, in which the diet and beauty industries in particular have a major influence, we internalized early on that weight loss is always the goal of exercising and eating a healthy and balanced diet. Weight loss = success, weight gain or stagnation = failure. But it's not that simple.
First of all, not all people who want to exercise and eat a more balanced diet necessarily want to lose weight. And that's a good thing! In my opinion, progress can and should be measured in other ways than just by the number on the scales.
Progress can also look like this
You feel satiated after your meals, because with the right diet you feel full, satisfied and supplied with all nutrients even during a weight loss process. And you have more energy, strength and stamina, which in turn makes your everyday life easier and you can cope more easily with it.
The measuring tape indicates a smaller circumference, although the number on the scales remains the same or increases: Your scale doesn't tell you anything about the ratio of muscle, water and fat in your body. Most body composition scales are inaccurate and cannot show you these ratios precisely; at best, they give you a very rough estimate. To get more accurate results, you should at least have a bioelectrical impedance analysis done. Or, you can simply use your measuring tape: if you train regularly, you may well lose fat mass and gain muscle mass at the beginning of your training career. However, this is not necessarily reflected on the scales; your weight may stagnate or increase slightly. In addition, muscle mass has a higher density than fat mass, so you will still look thinner despite having the same or higher weight.
You don't feel like you're on a diet. I don't believe in diets, as they are only aimed at short-term goals that are supposed to be achieved as quickly as possible. They also permanently restrict your quality of life. It makes much more sense to make long-term changes to your eating and exercise habits so that they become part of your everyday life, without restrictions and prohibitions. You shouldn't feel like you have to deprive yourself of something for the rest of your life.
You become stronger and fitter and notice this not only during training, but also in everyday life. You can lift your children or your dog with more ease, it's easier to get up the stairs or get up from the sofa. You help with a move and can suddenly carry things easily that you wouldn't have even attempted in the past. You run to the bus or train because you're running late and you're not immediately out of breath. All these successes in your everyday life cannot be measured by the number on the scales.
You no longer have to count calories or points, as you have now gained sufficient awareness and knowledge about the individual foods and their composition, as well as your own body and its resilience and nutritional requirements.
You are no longer afraid of certain foods that are deemed bad and unhealthy and should not be consumed.
You no longer overeat and have learned to gauge your satiety correctly.
In my opinion, all of these things are much more important and valuable than a lower number on the scales. The lower number on the scales doesn't necessarily mean you have a better quality of life, but the points listed above do.
Conclusion
The number on the scale is not important and says absolutely nothing about your value as a person. You can use the scales as a tool, but you don't have to. Please don't let the weight on the scales freak you out. Your weight fluctuates daily and is dependent on water retention, hormone levels and their fluctuations, the composition of your diet, your digestion, your stress level, your training over the last few days and the outside temperature.
Rather than letting the number on the scale guide you in determining the success or failure of your journey to a healthier life, look at the following things: Do you feel full after your meals? Does the measusing tape show a smalles circumference? Do you not feel like you are dieting? Are you getting stronger and do you feel more fit in everyday life? Do you have an awareness of food and its composition and no longer have to count calories or points? Are you no longer afraid of certain foods because you have learned that no food is bad and should be avoided? Do you no longer overeat and have you learned to assess your satiety? These are all things that show you that you are on the right track. The number on the scales is completely irrelevant.
Let's change your lifestyle to incorporate healthy eating and exercise habits into your everyday life and work together to tackle the causes of your unhealthy habits. With my help, you will acquire knowledge about nutrition, exercise and training that will positively impact you for the rest of your life. I will support you on your journey, even if it gets difficult at times and you think about giving up. I look forward to embarking on this journey with you!
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